WHF Ch 83 – Such a good boy.

That one bite completely extinguished the young master’s fireworks. By the time Yu Tianbai had calmly waded back to the other end of the bathtub and settled down again, the young master slowly sank back into the water.

Yu Tianbai glanced down and reminded him in a low voice, “Ah, don’t get excited.”

He enunciated “excited” with perfect clarity. Xiu Ma immediately crossed his legs and hugged his knees, which drew another round of laughter from Yu Tianbai.

Once the sounds of water and voices ceased, the bathroom was once again filled with steam. Wet hair always looks darker; the young master was no longer blond, which looked a little unfamiliar. Yu Tianbai stared at him for a moment, then asked:

“Does the wound still itch?”

Xiu Ma finally deigned to look at him—for the past few minutes, he had been stubbornly staring at the ceiling in a huff.

“No, it’s not time for the bone to be healing yet.”

“I’m not talking about that wound,” Yu Tianbai said, lifting his chin to look at Xiu Ma’s eyes. 

“The one on your wrist.”

The one his mother had cut, the one that always itched when the temperature changed.

Xiu Ma reflexively touched his left hand, but his arm was wrapped in a cast, and his right hand stopped at the surface of the bandages.

“It’s fine. It’s not as bad now that the weather’s warmer,” Xiu Ma answered him.

The bathtub came with the apartment. It wasn’t large, and now with two grown men squeezed inside, it was a precarious situation. The slightest movement would cause the water to surge and rise. After a few more splashing sounds, Yu Tianbai said:

“You don’t have any scars on your body, though.”

So he was doing a quality inspection of his flesh earlier.

“I heal fast,” Xiu Ma replied. 

“My mom could beat me one day, and I’d be able to go to school as usual the next.”

The young master’s tone was casual, completely different from how he used to be. Yu Tianbai still remembered their first trip back to Songyuan, the night he and the young master had a fight, all because of that scar.

Thinking back now, the wound that left a scar was probably the most painful one the young master had ever endured.

Yu Tianbai sank a little deeper into the water and said softly:

“Take good care of your arm. A broken bone won’t leave a scar.”

The young master sniffled. His posture was no longer as stiff as it had been when he was told not to get “excited.” He unfolded his arms and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling.

“Then you’ll have to keep me company more,” he said to Yu Tianbai.

Yu Tianbai readily agreed. 

“Mm, I’ll give up my business.”

When Xiu Ma looked at him with a gaze full of doubt, he smiled and asked, “Want to get Korean food? There’s a pretty good place behind the park.”

Xiu Ma didn’t answer right away. He looked down into the water, then asked, “Why are you kicking my thigh?”

It was on purpose.

The sincere question was met with a hearty laugh from Yu Tianbai. He stretched his arms and legs, repositioned himself, and rested his foot more firmly on the young master’s thigh. Then he said:

“Blame it on the small space—just stay calm and composed. Pretend this is a public bathhouse.”

But this wasn’t a public bathhouse, and they weren’t strangers who just happened to be squeezed together. They were a couple, with one of them in the prime of his youth. Sparks could fly; anything was possible.

When the young master reached for his ankle, Yu Tianbai wisely moved his leg away. He had no desire to grapple with an injured person in this stuffy, slippery place.

Once the water’s surface was calm again, the young master gave a belated answer to his earlier question. 

“Can we go tomorrow? I want to go.”

“Sure,” Yu Tianbai said without hesitation. 

“We can take a stroll in the park again, too. Not the one by the river we always go to. This one has people singing and playing chess; it’s quite lively.”

Xiu Ma looked at him and nodded earnestly.

At that moment, he understood. It wasn’t that the small city lacked interesting things to do; it was just that compared to doing things with Yu Tianbai, doing anything alone seemed monotonous. The steam was even making him feel a bit tipsy. Xiu Ma rested his arms on his knees, tucked his chin into his arms, and tried to commit the feeling of this moment to memory.

“Don’t fall asleep,” Yu Tianbai reminded him.

But he knew the young master definitely wouldn’t sleep. At this moment, both their hearts were pounding like drums.

At a quarter past eight, the long bath was finally over. Xiu Ma was drying his hair with one hand by the side of the tub. Yu Tianbai bent down, pulled the plug at the bottom, then grabbed a bath towel and wrapped it snugly around the young master. Then he asked:

“You can get dressed on your own, right—is there anything else you need my help with?”

Xiu Ma first nodded, then shook his head. The moment Yu Tianbai removed his hand from the towel, he grabbed Yu Tianbai’s wrist.

“Can you kiss me?”

He asked with such sincerity. Fresh from the hot bath, the young master looked even cleaner, the tip of his nose practically glowing. Yu Tianbai was utterly incapable of refusing his request. What’s more, the kid was pulling his hand toward his shoulder as he spoke.

Yu Tianbai followed his lead, placing a hand on the side of his neck. He quickly pressed a kiss to Xiu Ma’s lips, and after pulling away, his hand moved up to pinch the young master’s earlobe.

“Is that enough?” he asked.

Xiu Ma didn’t answer, simply grabbing his wrist and pulling him back in again. He initiated the kiss, and the towel draped over his body fell to the floor.

Their lips met, then their tongues. Yu Tianbai’s eyes were half-lidded; he could see Xiu Ma’s eyes fixed on him like some kind of wild animal, forcing him back a couple of steps. A soft hum escaped his lips.

“That’s enough,” Yu Tianbai called a halt, pushing the person in front of him away.

Only after he had caught his breath did he slant his eyes to look at the man before him again. Xiu Ma’s eyes were glinting with excitement—an expression he hadn’t seen in a long time, but as bold as ever.

“You,” Yu Tianbai licked his lips, his voice so hoarse he barely recognized it. 

“Go wait for me in bed.”

The distance from the bathroom to the bedroom felt impossibly long. The time from when he stood by the bed to when he saw Yu Tianbai again was also endless. Only when their skin touched again did time in Xiu Ma’s head start to flow once more. Blood rushed to his head, roaring vibrantly in his eardrums.

The bedside lamp was on. The sheets smelled of Yu Tianbai. Neither of them was wearing clothes, and their hair was still wet. When it came to being primal and wild, neither was lacking.

Xiu Ma lay on his back, letting Yu Tianbai pull him up. After brushing the blond strands from his face, Yu Tianbai pressed their foreheads together and asked:

“Who’d you secretly learn how to kiss from?”

As he asked, the man’s hands were not idle, sliding down from his neck, across his chest to his lower abdomen, but stopping short of the critical area.

Xiu Ma let out a laugh, arching his hips with Yu Tianbai’s movements. 

“Figured it out myself.”

“Mm,” Yu Tianbai was very satisfied. 

“Such a good boy.”

…

At nine o’clock, they were lying side by side in bed. Beneath them were the rumpled sheets. Their hair had dried, but now the pillows were damp instead. They were a messy, disheveled pair, with no regard for their image.

Yu Tianbai tolerated the temporary mess. He pulled over a blanket, first covering the young master, then tucking a corner in for himself.

The young master, for once, was on his phone, looking at something. It was a little chilly in the room, so Yu Tianbai tugged a bit more of the blanket to his side. Just as he got settled, the person next to him asked, “Do you know what app is good for taking photos?”

Yu Tianbai thought he had misheard. He glanced askance at Xiu Ma; the phone screen was indeed on the camera app.

He replied, “You’re so good-looking, any app will do—what do you want to take a picture of?”

Xiu Ma turned to look at him. 

“Us.”

“Now?” Yu Tianbai raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Xiu Ma’s tone was earnest.

“Has no one ever told you that taking pictures in bed is dangerous?” Although Yu Tianbai said this, he still scooted closer.

Neither of them had bothered to get dressed. Beneath the blanket was warm skin, and the feeling of them pressed together was exceptionally good.

The young master was using the phone’s native camera. In the frame, he was looking to his left, and Yu Tianbai knew he was looking at him.

“I won’t show anything else,” Xiu Ma replied, pulling the blanket up higher as he spoke, looking as if he were guarding his chastity.

The sight was so amusing that Yu Tianbai couldn’t resist teasing him. He shifted his gaze slightly and said with a straight face, “It’s pretty obvious just from your face. Anyone can tell what you were just doing.”

But he was telling the truth. The tip of his nose was glowing, a blush spread under his eyes, and his lips were a brighter red than usual. The young master looked exceptionally beautiful right now.

Xiu Ma pursed his lips and quickly wiped his face with his fingertips, then asked, “Is it that obvious?”

“Mm-hmm,” Yu Tianbai lay back on the pillow, watching him from the side. 

“Absolutely.”

As the young master bit his lip and fell silent, Yu Tianbai finally gave up on bullying the kid.

“Just don’t make it too clear,” he said with a smile, reaching out to adjust the phone in Xiu Ma’s hand. 

“Like this.”

Ten minutes later, Xiu Ma’s phone had a new photo, taken under Yu Tianbai’s guidance. It was a square, close-up shot. On the left was Xiu Ma’s left eye, and on the right was Yu Tianbai’s right eye. You could tell Yu Tianbai had turned his head to the side to help the young master take the picture, their faces pressed together.

Xiu Ma’s features were distinct, his irises a light brown. His roundish eyes were slightly narrowed, with prominent lower eyelids. Yu Tianbai’s eyes, in comparison, were less bright but had a sharp contrast between the black and white. His brows and eyes were a bit lighter, his eyes long and narrow. He wasn’t smiling; he was serious about taking the photo.

It was perfect. Other than their eyes, eyebrows, and a few strands of hair, nothing else was visible.

Xiu Ma was clearly very satisfied with the photo. He stared at it for a while longer.

“What’s a good caption?” he asked Yu Tianbai.

“Don’t go posting it everywhere,” Yu Tianbai turned his attention back to his own phone.

The person beside him hummed in agreement. A moment later, a new notification popped up on Yu Tianbai’s Moments feed.

Posted just now, tagging Yu Tianbai. The caption read: “He won’t let me post it.”

Yu Tianbai laughed out loud, then stifled it. Like the young master, he stared silently at the photo for a moment, then saved it.

“Are you hungry?” he suddenly asked.

Nine-thirty at night. Not early, but not too late either—the perfect time for a late-night snack. Although they had eaten a big dinner, the afterglow of passion always left a different kind of feeling: hunger.

Xiu Ma didn’t even care what Yu Tianbai was suggesting for a snack and answered directly, “I’ll eat.”

“What’ll you eat, you,” Yu Tianbai laughed at him, but he was already earnestly opening a chat window on his phone. 

“I know the owner of the malatang place downstairs. I’ll leave a message and have him send two bowls up. What toppings do you want?”

Xiu Ma put his phone down and looked up at the wall. A second later, he gave three names: “Youmaicai, osmanthus sausage, and wide sweet potato noodles.”

Now it was Yu Tianbai’s turn to be surprised. He had always admired the young master’s ability to know exactly what he wanted to eat at any given moment. Perhaps it was the keenness and decisiveness exclusive to top students.

Yu Tianbai sighed dramatically, sat up in bed, and tugged at the blanket covering the young master. 

“Get up and get ourselves cleaned up?”

The decisiveness scattered. The young master was quite displeased with this suggestion, rolling around a few times before finally getting out of bed. While Yu Tianbai was shaking out and folding the blanket, he sat on the edge of the bed in a daze.

Yu Tianbai folded the blanket, placed it on a nearby chair, then went to pull the sheet from under Xiu Ma, once again provoking the young master’s dissatisfaction.

After hurrying him to stand up, Yu Tianbai didn’t rush to remove the sheet. He lowered his voice and asked, “Does it hurt?”

Xiu Ma, as if waking from a dream, helped him pull the sheet out from under the mattress.

“No,” he answered quickly, then fell silent again, hesitating for a moment before speaking. 

“It just feels… a little different than usual.”

“It’s normal not to be used to it. At least your face doesn’t look like you just killed someone this time.” Yu Tianbai took the opposite corner of the sheet from him, spread it out flat, and casually inspected the marks on it. He continued, “Tell me if you feel any discomfort.”

Xiu Ma was feeling a little uncomfortable right now, because he was now staring directly at the results he had caused—on the sheet.

He was momentarily at a loss for words and asked, “Is this… lube?”

Compared to him, Yu Tianbai’s reaction was incredibly normal, as if he were answering a very serious, common-knowledge question. 

“Some of it is yours, too. Men produce fluid as well.”

The conversation ended there. Xiu Ma turned, grabbed a towel with his right hand, and headed straight for the bathroom.

Yu Tianbai had to carefully recall the time he was bitten by a dog at age nine to keep from laughing out loud the second the young master fled. However, he wasn’t nice enough to grant the kid his full dignity. So, at the very moment Xiu Ma’s foot crossed the bathroom threshold, Yu Tianbai shouted:

“Hey—remember to bring the towels out of the bathroom first!”

The reply he received was the sound of a door slamming shut with great force.